Dodd, Conrad deny knowing VIP deals

Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) are fiercely denying a report that they knew they were getting sweetheart mortgage deals — accusing a Countrywide Financial loan officer of distorting their relationships with the former mortgage giant.

“There is nothing new here,” Conrad spokesman Christopher Gaddie told POLITICO Monday night. “These questions have been asked and answered by the senator already, and the facts remain the same: Sen. Conrad never asked for, expected or was aware of loans on any preferential terms.”

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According to an Associated Press report late Monday, Robert Feinberg, who worked in the Countrywide’s “VIP” section, informed congressional investigators last month that both senators were told “who you know is basically how you’re coming in here.”

Feinberg made similar comments before the Senate Ethics Committee, a source familiar with Feinberg’s testimony told POLITICO. And indeed, Feinberg has said much the same thing about the Dodd and Conrad mortgages in the past, including in an interview with Portfolio magazine last year.

Dodd — who is facing an uphill fight in his bid for his sixth Senate term — turned to Countrywide in 2003 to refinance mortgages on residences in Connecticut and Washington.

Congressional ethics rules bar lawmakers from getting special deals or benefits not available to the general public. Dodd has insisted that he was given generic, market-based interest rates on his refinances. And while Dodd has denied that he knew he’d been placed on a “Friends of Angelo” list managed by then-Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, he has admitted that he was aware that he had been enrolled in Countrywide’s VIP program.

A Dodd spokesman said Monday that Feinberg’s charges were old news and that the senator wants the Ethics Committee to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

“As the Dodds have said from the beginning, they did not seek or expect any special rates or terms on their loans and they never received any; they were never offered special or sweetheart deals and if anyone had made such an offer, they would have severed that relationship immediately,” Dodd spokesman Bryan DeAngelis said in a statement e-mailed to POLITICO. “They acted properly in their mortgage refinancing negotiations.”